


As Rumor Has It

by merycula (thanksillpass)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-18 10:27:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1425103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanksillpass/pseuds/merycula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumors follow Kagami at his new workplace and he has no idea what's going on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As Rumor Has It

Kagami slumped in his chair and sighed into his coffee. Before lunch, he managed to: storm past Riko and Izuki giggling while blatantly eyeing him, get an inconspicuous _wink_  from Kise, as well as a scoff from Hyuuga,  _and_  have Murasakibara tower over him with a glare for whole six minutes. This was getting ridiculous and Kagami decided it was high time to get to the bottom of this.

“Hello, Kagami-kun.”

Well, right after cleaning his pants from the coffee stains he just got by the courtesy of Kuroko, who never seemed to get bored with startling the living shit out of him.

“How many times do I-”

The rest of the sentence died on his lips when he looked up and took in the sight of his coworker. His bedhead was unreal as always, but the bags under his eyes were kind of alarming.

“Please give me your coffee, Kagami-kun.”

Kagami blinked. It wasn’t that unusual for Kuroko to state his requests so blatantly but this one was peculiar even for him. “Why?”

“Midorima-kun took my mug. He says it’s his lucky item for today.”

“That’s harassment,” said Kagami but handed Kuroko his mug nonetheless. “Make sure to refill it when you’re done. I’m gonna go clean my pants. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“You’re welcome, Kagami-kun,” said Kuroko as sincerely as dazedly.

Kuroko was probably the least morning person Kagami had ever met. He was always confused about his surroundings and it was nearly impossible to have an intelligent conversation with him before noon and at least three cups of coffee. Kagami had to chuckle as he rolled his eyes and got up from his chair. He left Kuroko at his desk sipping his coffee and went to the bathroom.

The stain wasn’t that tragically big but it was very embarrassingly placed so he definitely didn’t want to wet it and have Takao tease him like some fourth-grader he actually was; he settled for wiping it with paper towels.

“You share the same mug now?”

Kagami shuddered at the sleazy sound of Aomine’s voice. He never considered himself a hostile person but there was no other way to deal with Aomine Daiki but to level with him and treat him with the same amount of douchebaggery that he treated others with.

“I’m not even gonna answer that,” he muttered as he threw the paper away and moved to bypass Aomine.

“I know Tetsu since middle school, you know.”

Kagami stopped in his track and groaned. “Yes, Ahomine. I know. You tell me every. single. day. I still don’t see how it’s relevant to my life. Care to clue me in?”

Aomine stared back at him with a lazy grin and Kagami barely contained the urge to shudder. God, the guy gave him the creeps. He often wondered how a friendship between Aomine and Kuroko was even possible but then again there was Midorima and Takao so it was probably that Japanese people were just weird. Thankfully, America cured Kagami of this unspecified affliction and  _his_  best friend was normal and they were perfectly compatible.

 “Just saying…” drawled Aomine finally.

Kagami shrugged and unceremoniously took a step forward, hell-bent on avoiding Aomine for the rest of the day. Or life, that worked too.

“Everyone is talking about you…” quipped Aomine as Kagami was about to step out of the bathroom.

“Yeah, I noticed,” he said on instinct. “About that-”

Kagami clammed up the second he remembered who he was talking to. He grit his teeth and kept walking, ignoring Aomine’s smug grin. He sat back by his desk and rested his head against it. Almost immediately a small pale hand placed a steaming mug next to his face. Kagami looked up and snorted at the incredible change in Kuroko’s appearance.

“Momoi did your hair again?” he teased as he straightened up in his chair and picked up the mug.

“I tried to stop her. But she threatened to call Akashi-san.”

“I bet the creep knows anyway.”

“It’s not nice to talk about your boss like that, Kagami-kun.”

“Please. If I weren’t so good at my job he wouldn’t even bother firing me, he would stab me with scissors or something.”

“Sometimes I feel you would deserve this for your lack of humility.”

The deadpan tone Kuroko said it in made Kagami’s brow twitch and he reached out to grab and pull on his cheek. Kuroko even  _whined_  in deadpan and Kagami found it almost as much as annoying as endearing. Suddenly he heard Midorima clear his throat right behind him and cringed.

“Stop slacking off and get back to work, Kagami!”

“Huh?!”

Kuroko simply rubbed his cheek with a pout and went back to his desk, leaving Kagami’s question unanswered. Kagami had officially had enough. Even Midorima was in on it, whatever it was.

It started shortly after Kagami joined the company and it made no sense to him whatsoever. Everyone seemed to constantly gossip about him and he had no idea why. Ever since Kuroko walked over to him and vowed to become his shadow and become the best team in the entire office, Kagami seemed to become the main subject of every conversation of every worker. The weirdest part was that Kuroko didn’t even notice – or didn’t care – which was seriously unnerving, considering he was the only person Kagami could complain to about it without having to deal with smirks and snorts.

“Kagamicchi, could you copy this for me?”

Kagami groaned. “Kise, you are perfectly capable of doing it yourself. Aren’t you always bragging about how you make  _perfect copies?_  Isn’t it, like, your only ability? Your only  _job?_  You’re a goddam secretary!”

“How can you, Kagamicchi! I’m a  _personal assistant!_  Besides, I just did my nails and you look bored.”

“Weird, I was going for ready to jump off the roof at the first random attempt to annoy me.”

Kise scoffed. “Fine, Mr. Anger Management Issues, I’ll ask Kasamacchi.”

“Nice knowing you.”

“He.  _Loves._  Me.”

Kagami couldn’t help but grin. Kasamatsu never had any qualms about kicking Kise’s ass whenever he decided to nag him, yet Kise never gave up on his suicide mission to surgically attach himself to his senpai. It was kind of adorable when he thought about it.

“Your smiling face grosses me out.”

Kagami rolled his eyes as he turned around to face Momoi. She hated him practically from day one even though he never did anything to her. He didn’t even speak to her without being asked first – even he was smart enough to know when to run and hide. Momoi was really scary with all her stunning looks and incredible brain and venomous tongue and enormous hair filled with secrets.

She glared him down and placed a file on his desk. “Take this to Sakurai.”

“I’m not the secretary here!” he protested.

“Kise-kun just did his nails,” she explained with a shrug and walked away.

Kagami almost crumpled the documents in his hand as he got up and rushed to the elevators. He stepped in and pressed the button, trying to calm down his nerves.

“Last floor, please.”

Kagami almost jumped when he heard Kuroko’s voice. “How did you even-” he started.

He sighed as Kuroko blinked at him impassively and slumped against the elevator wall. Kuroko shrugged and pressed the button himself.

“What boss want with you?” asked Kagami awkwardly.

“I certainly hope he does not wish to scold me for the state of my hair this morning.”

“You don’t expect me to laugh, right? Your jokes suck.”

“I’m happy enough with Kagami-kun recognizing them. Not everyone can.”

Kagami smirked and ruffled Kuroko’s hair. His hand lingered on the strands and he could hear Kuroko’s breath hitch when Kagami’s fingers slid down his neck. He felt himself blush as he dropped his hand and turned his head the other way. What was he even doing?

He wasn’t above admitting he found Kuroko attractive and maybe – just maybe – liked him a bit more than he should but there was time and place for such things; the company elevator during working hours was  _not_  the time and place.

When the elevator stopped, Kagami felt himself washed away with relief, but only for a fracture of second. Takao, who was about to step inside, looked at Kagami and his face was suddenly split with the widest grin.

“Sorry, don’t let me bother you,” he drawled, stepping back. “I’ll wait for another one!”

Kagami was absolutely mortified. Not only did they constantly whisper behind his back, used him as an errand boy, but now they didn’t want to use the same elevator as him! Kuroko hummed softly but didn’t show any other sign of acknowledging what had just happened. That was when Kagami’s humiliation gave way to annoyance.

“Why do they do it?” he blurted out.

Kuroko tilted his head questioningly. “I apologize, I don’t know what-”

“Don’t. I’ve had enough of abruptly ended conversation, hushed whispers and knowing looks for the past few months. I know they gossip, I just don’t know why. Don’t tell me you don’t see it.”

Kuroko was silent for a moment and Kagami was beginning to think he was stalling until the elevator reached the top floor so he instinctively stopped it. Kuroko frowned and looked at Kagami.

“Why do they gossip about me?” he demanded.

“You?” repeated Kuroko, genuinely surprised. “They gossip about  _us,_  Kagami-kun. I never pay it any mind and neither should you. We both know for a fact we aren’t in any kind of secret relationship, don’t we? It will pass, they’re just bored.”

Kagami’s brain short-circuited as he fumbled for words. “Wait, what? They think that- that we- that you and me are-”

“Yes, Kagami-kun. Be careful not to hurt yourself. I am honestly shocked you hadn’t realized. Truly a Bakagami. They seem to mistake your awfully American tactility for a sign of intimate affection for me. Additionally, we spend most of our time together due to the nature of our work, you bring me lunch because you insist I don’t eat enough, and-”

“Okay, okay, I get it.”

Kagami sighed as Kuroko nodded stiffly. When his mind cooled off enough to think, he realized something that set his stomach on fire. Kuroko was as embarrassed by this whole situation as he was. The monosyllabic Kuroko Tetsuya talking a mile a minute? That happened only when he wanted to hide his discomfort. Or to bullshit his way out of Momoi’s supervision, which was clearly not the case at the moment.

So Kuroko  _was_  bothered by the rumors. He  _did_  pay mind to them. The realization did weird things to Kagami’s… everything. He wished he wasn’t a complete failure when it came to this sort of stuff so he could do something about it – clear things up, find out where he stood. He tried to remember what Tatsuya would do in a situation like this, but his friend was, unfortunately, a player, and Kagami could never pull any of his moves. Maybe they weren’t so compatible after all…

“Akashi-san will be very displeased with me,” said Kuroko suddenly.

He reached out to run the elevator back and Kagami panicked. He grabbed Kuroko’s hand and gaped at their joined fingers unattractively. He needed to say something, anything, quickly, before…

“You wanna give those rumors some ground?”

Kagami cringed at his own words and dropped Kuroko’s hand as if it burned him, fumbling with the buttons and praying the door would open before Kuroko had the chance to die laughing at him. But the elevator did not cooperate and Kuroko just stood there, silently watching Kagami. Not that he’d dare to look at him, but he could feel those eyes on him. No biggy, he could change jobs, leave the country, he could-

“Yes.”

He blinked dumbly as he snapped his eyes to Kuroko. The faint blush on Kuroko’s cheeks set his own skin on fire. The door opened and Kuroko stepped out before Kagami could find any words to use.

“Although we need to work on your seduction skills, Kagami-kun, they are preposterous.”

Kuroko smiled softly and Kagami was still gaping as the door closed.


End file.
